I paddled out with only a slight encounter with a big rock and scratched just under my knee a bit.
We paddled out and there were about fifteen heads in the water. All locals and Gringos, no Brazilians (YES!).
It took me a solid ten minutes to catch my first wave, and it was a closeout. I pulled through the lip without incident.
This guy in a red tank top was catching TONS of waves, sometimes burning guys in the process. He is a friend of Chamba's and a surf guide. He's a big guy but he was without question, killing it out there. He wasn't really letting anyone else have fun though.
About a half-hour into the sesh, I was approached by a guy in a rash guard from Oxnard. He told me that his surf guide wasn't letting him catch waves. I said, "The guy in the red tank top?". He said, "I GAVE him that shirt!". I told him to sit with him, just a little deeper and he'll probably pull back and let you have it. For a surf guide to burn a paying client is difficult to imagine. He told me he was over it and would just leave a bad review with the owner...
My second wave took me about forty minutes to catch. I was doing a lot of paddling and pulling back because of the red tank guy among other people. Finally, I got my chance when a guy who was deeper than me decided a wave we were both paddling for wasn't for him. I caught it late and smacked it, but not as high on the wave as I'd have liked. I turned again but got hung up on the lip.
Oh so slowly, people who had probably been there since dawn started going in. My wave count accelerated upwards as a result, especially once JJB (red tank guy) left.
I caught my third wave, but it sectioned off in front of me. I Fosbury flopped over the back without incident.
I caught a smaller wave, but it didn't have much juice. I turned laterally and threw a good amount of spray sideways toward the disapperaring wave, recovered and kicked out.
A good-sized wave came, about head high, and I was on it. I bottom-turned hard and put a ton of weight on my back foot, eviscerating the lip. I descended, ascended and hit it pretty well, then kicked out.
Chamba told me to go on a wave I thought was a close-out. I went and paid the price for going against my gut when my left knee smacked into a rock underwater. I just grazed it with my right leg. Hopefully, a cool scar will come from this.
Another close-out, this time, though I bailed onto the wash and was fine.
The wind was coming up and I was concerned about the amount of sun I was getting on my first day, so we made plans to go in.
A wave came and I duckdived. Just before I did so, I noticed a boil from a large submerged rock and THWOMP! The nose of my board smashed into it. A little more $ will be going to Piri, the ding repair genius.
I caught one pretty early, pivoted and hit it well, then kicked out as it sectioned off.
A final closeout, on which I lightly grazed my left butt cheek on the reef, kind of like what I did at Pipe a couple of years ago.
I walked to Piri's Ding Repair and he looked at my board and quoted me $6 (!) for all of the repairs. SOLD! The board should be back in my possession tomorrow afternoon, so I borrowed one of Chamba's boards.
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